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Suffolk County Sheriff Details Containment Measures

With the inevitable arrival
of the first cases of COVID-19 to its facilities, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s
Department has engaged in a rigorous containment and spread-prevention strategy
aimed at limiting the effect of the global pandemic within its
facilities.

Presently, as of April 17,
there have been six positive tests for COVID-19 among those in Department care
and custody – all within the detainee population at the Suffolk County Jail –
and eight staff members who tested positive for COVID-19 (seven officers and
one medical contractor). One detainee testing positive was hospitalized
at Boston Medical Center overnight, and discharged back to Department
facilities the following day. All six detainees have been transferred to
a special quarantine unit at the House of Correction and positive staff members
went into mandated quarantine. An additional two residents of the Jail are
currently being housed separately at the House of Correction while awaiting
test results.

In the instance of a positive
test for officers, the Department conducts a review of on-duty contacts
(staff/detainee/inmate) that an officer may have had. Typically, an officer
does not fall within the CDC guidance of “close contact” with inmates, unless
they have had physical contact through a “use of force” action or an assignment
that put him or her in an enclosed area for a prolonged period of time. The
Department also reviews staff contacts and assignments. Certain staff contacts
have led to mandated quarantine, others, self-quarantine, and still others no
quarantine, depending on the review and level of contact.

Consistent with the
Department’s enhanced sanitization and decontamination protocols, the Jail
units in which the individuals who tested positive lived pre-test, underwent
deep cleaning and decontamination. Sanitization efforts continue in those units
on an accelerated pace, in addition to the cleaning and sanitizing protocols
enforced multiple times throughout the day throughout both facilities.

The use of masks for all
personnel has been mandated, and anyone entering Department facilities is
screened for symptoms and administered a temperature test. Custody and medical
staff have been assigned personal protective equipment (PPE), and all staff,
detainees and inmates have been given masks, which are replaced as
needed.

“The arrival of COVID-19 in
our facilities is something that we have been preparing for since the outset of
the pandemic,” said Sheriff Tompkins, stressing the Department’s readiness. “As
many of the health organizations and infectious disease experts have stated,
the introduction of the COVID-19 virus in prison settings is inevitable, and we
are all a microcosm of what is happening on our streets and in our
communities.”

“The key for us is in the
implementation of our plans and the consistency in their operation,” Sheriff
Tompkins continued. “As I said, we are prepared for this unfortunate but
inevitable situation, and we will do everything in our power to limit the
incidence of the virus in our facilities and mitigate its effects by
quarantining people who test positive, those who may have been in close contact
with them, continuing our rigorous sanitizing and decontamination procedures,
and following and updating the protocols that we’ve already implemented, as
needed.”

The Department has also
enlisted the expertise of Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Alysse Wurcel of
Tufts Medical Center to bolster the practical and strategic planning of its
COVID-19 response.

In addition to the protection and mitigation
protocols, the Department has also been working with the courts to reduce the
population within its facilities in compliance with the Massachusetts Supreme
Judicial Court (SJC) Order 12926. To date, 31 detainees, meeting specific
criteria identified by the SJC, have been released from Department custody.